ProSiebenSat.1 boosts sales but profits slip

German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 has posted generally positive quarterly figures showing revenues up 4.5 per cent to €723.3 million and a net profit of €85 million, down from €132 million in Q2 2011 but that was without the company’s print and TV operations in Belgium and the Netherlands, which ProSiebenSat.1 sold last year. Factoring that out, Q2 profits were steady year-on-year.

For the first half, revenue was up strongly to €1.36 billion with net profits of €138 million.

The bulk of ProSiebenSat.1’s business – equivalent to 65.1 per cent of revenues – came from the German free TV market, which has continued to grow, with ad revenues increasing 4.4 per cent to €5.3 billion in the first half, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. The company’s channels and digital operations accounted for more than 42 per cent of the total TV ad market in Germany, a 2 per cent year-on-year increase.

German remains ProSiebenSat.1’s core business but mid-term, the European TV giant is looking beyond Germany. By 2015, ProSiebenSat.1 says it wants half of its revenues to come from outside the German market. In addition to expansion in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe – the group launched new channels in Norway and Hungary this year.